Dough products comprising ethylcellulose and exhibiting reduced oil migration

ABSTRACT

A cooked dough product, such as a biscuit (cookie), comprising from about 10 wt. % to about 45 wt. % of an oil and/or fat component, and from about 0.25 wt. % to about 20 wt. % of ethylcellulose, based on the weight of said product. Also provided is a method of making a cooked dough product comprising the steps of: preparing a dough containing a flour, water, from about 10 wt. % to about 45 wt. % of an oil and/or fat component, and from about 0.25 wt. % to about 20 wt. % of ethylcellulose, based on the weight of the ingredients excluding added water; and cooking the dough at a temperature of at least about 140° C. The ethylcellulose is effective to reduce oil migration from the cooked dough products.

The present invention relates to cooked dough products exhibitingreduced oil migration, and to methods of making such products.

Cooked dough products are produced by baking or otherwise cooking doughscontaining a flour, water, an oil or fat component, optionally sugars,and optionally a leavening agent. Typical cooked dough products includecookies, biscuits, wafers, crackers and cakes. These products typicallycontain at least 1% of fat, and more usually at least 5% of fat, forexample 10-30% of fat. Examples of fats that are widely employed includebutter, palm oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, and other vegetableoils, hydrogenated vegetable oils and high melting stearin fractions ofvegetable oils including blends thereof. These crystallising fats playsa multi-functional role in product attributes such as texture,appearance, structure and shelf-life stability.

A drawback of the fats conventionally used in cooked dough products isthe high amount of saturated fatty acids (SAFA) contained therein. It isgenerally accepted that fats having a high SAFA content, andconsequently a low content of unsaturated fatty acids, do not fit in ahealthy diet. In addition, it is a widely held view amongstnutritionists that fats containing high levels of monounsaturated fattyacids (MUFA) and/or polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) fit well into ahealthy diet.

Hence, it would be desirable to replace the high SAFA fats in cookeddough products by oils that contain substantially lower amounts ofsaturated fatty acids and a considerable amount of PUFA.

An undesirable feature of some baked dough-based products is that lipidmigration takes place in the baked goods resulting in a fat bloom due torecrystallisation of fat on the surface of the products and/or a greasyor oily surface appearance on the products after storage. Furthermore,when the products are coated with chocolate, the oil migration canresult in an undesirable bloom or greasiness on the surface of thechocolate coating due to fat/oil migration from the underlying products.The use of liquid oils, such as MUFA and/or PUFA oils, to replace thecrystallizing fats in dough-based products exacerbates the problem ofoil migration in the products.

EP-A-0206850 describes a shelf-stable cookie having a moist, cake-likesoft textured crumb structure stable over an extended period of time andhaving reduced seepage of shortening or fat at cookie storagetemperatures. The reduced oil migration is achieved by the use of aspecific partially-hydrogenated blend of soybean and palm oil.WO-A-2008150169 describes another fat blend specifically chosen toreduce fat migration in biscuits and crackers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,152describes a migration inhibitor for fats and oils in baked goods. Themigration inhibitor comprises of a specific disaturated-monounsaturatedmixed triglyceride in an amount of 10% by weight or more of the fat inthe composition.

GB-A-2391448 describes the use of a thin layer of a polyol barriermaterial, such as a sugar alcohol layer, to inhibit oil migration.

US-A-2010166911 describes various leavened dough formulations havingreduced proofing times. The doughs may contain from 0.1 to 2% fat andfrom 0.2 to 1.6% or higher of one or more stabilisers, which arehydrophilic colloids and may comprise ethylcellulose.

US-A-20100015279 describes gluten-free dough products, in particular forpizza bases. The compositions may contain semi-synthetic hydrophiliccolloids such as ethylcellulose, in an amount of 0.15 wt % or less. Thedoughs may contain oil and/or shortening in amounts up to 15% each.

US-A-20060210673 (Petrofsky) describes microwaveable dough compositionsfor providing frozen pizza bases having improved textural robustness.These doughs contain additives including a dietary fiber, ahydrocolloid, and from about 0.05 wt % to about 20 wt % of various“methylcelluloses”, which may include ethylcellulose.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,584 describes the addition of water-solublecellulose ethers to cookies. The resulting cookies are said to be usefulfor lowering low-density lipoprotein serum cholesterol.

A need remains for a simple and inexpensive way to reduce fat and oilmigration in cooked dough products. A further object of the presentinvention is to provide baked goods containing liquid oils such as MUFAand/or PUFA-containing oils that exhibit improved properties such asreduced oil migration.

In a first aspect, the present invention provides a cooked dough productcomprising a flour, and an oil or fat, wherein the cooked dough productfurther comprises from about 0.25 wt. % to about 1 wt. % ofethylcellulose.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a method of making acooked dough product comprising the steps of: preparing a doughcontaining a flour, an oil and/or fat, and water, wherein the doughfurther comprises from about 0.25 wt. % to about 10 wt. % ofethylcellulose based on the dry weight of the ingredients; and bakingthe dough at a temperature above about 140° C.

It has been found that incorporating ethylcellulose into the cookeddough products before baking results in products that exhibit reducedoil migration after baking. This makes it possible to use healthier oilsfor the preparation of the cooked dough products without unacceptableoil migration from the products. The products of the present inventionexhibit reduced oil migration relative to identical compositions that donot contain the ethylcellulose. Accordingly, in a third aspect thepresent invention provides the use of ethylcellulose, especially solid,particulate ethylcellulose, as an ingredient in doughs to reduce oilmigration from cooked dough products.

The term “cooked dough product” or “baked good” refers to products madeby cooking a dough or batter containing water, flour, and fat, usuallywith one or more sugars and/or a leavening agent and/or salt. Suitably,the product is a biscuit (i.e. a cookie in US parlance), a wafer, acracker, pastry, a fat-containing bread such as quick breads, scones(biscuit in US parlance) or brioche, or a cake. Most suitably it is abiscuit (i.e. cookie). The products of the invention typically containat least 1% of fat, and more usually 5% -50% of fat, for example 10-45%of fat, in embodiments 15-30% of fat, where the term “fat” refers tototal fat and oil components.

The product may be coated with a fat-based coating such as chocolateover at least a part of its surface, and suitably it may besubstantially completely coated with such a fat-based coating, forexample by enrobing. The term “fat-based coating” suitably refers to asolid or semi-solid coating having a continuous fat phase. Inembodiments, the product may be in the form of inclusions in a chocolatematrix or a chocolate-coated candy.

The weight percent ranges specified herein in relation to theingredients such as fat/oil, flour, sugar and ethylcellulose are basedon the weight of the baked dough material itself excluding any coatingssuch a chocolate coating, and further excluding solid inclusions such asnuts, raisins or chocolate chips.

Ethylcellulose (EC) is a nutritionally beneficial fiber and nutritionalfibers are often lacking in our diets. However, it is not a solubledietary fiber. Ethylcellulose is not significantly soluble in water; thesolubility in water at 20° C. is less than 1 g/liter. In addition,ethycellulose is a GRAS material (generally regarded as safe) for use infood products making EC, particularly EC having intermediate viscositiessuch as about 10 cp to about 100 cp, especially suitable for theinvention. The cp values refer to viscosity in centipoise of a 5%solution of the EC in 80% toluene/20% ethanol at 25° C., and thereforecorrelate to the molecular weight of the EC. The weight fraction ofethoxyl groups of the ethylcellulose is suitably from about 25% to about75%, for example from about 40% to about 60%. Suitable ethylcellulosesare available from Dow Chemical Co. under the registered trade markETHOCEL.

The baked dough product of the present invention suitably comprises atleast about 0.25 wt. % of ethylcellulose, for example at least about 1wt. % of ethylcellulose. The maximum amount of ethylcellulose in theproducts is determined by cost and organoleptic considerations. Themaximum is about 20 wt %, suitably up to about 1 wt. % ethylcellulose.Suitably, the product of the present invention comprises from about 2wt. % to about 8 wt. % of ethylcellulose based on the weight of thecooked dough product, for example from about 3 wt. % to about 6 wt. % ofethylcellulose based on the weight of the cooked dough product. Itfollows that the product of the invention suitably comprises from about2 wt. % to about 30 wt. % of ethylcellulose based on the total weight ofthe oil and/or fat component in the product, for example from about 5%to about 25% of ethylcellulose, typically from about 10% to about 20% ofethylcellulose, based on the total weight of the oil and/or fatcomponent in the product. The optimum amount of ethylcellulose willdepend on the other ingredients being used and the amount of oil in theproduct. For example, products containing barley flour or oat flour mayrequire less ethylcellulose than products containing wheat flour, sinceproducts made with the former flours are less prone to oil migration.

Suitably, the method of the invention comprises adding solidethylcellulose, for example ethylcellulose powder, to the dough mix, orto one or more components of the dough mix before or during preparationof the dough. For example, the ethylcellulose may be mixed with theflour or another dry solid component of the dough before preparation ofthe dough. In other embodiments, the ethylcellulose is added indispersion with a portion of the water used to form the dough. In lesspreferred embodiments it may be added with a portion of the oil forexample in the form of an oleogel.

Substantially or identically the same ranges of ethylcellulose content(based on the dry weight of ingredients in the dough, i.e. the weight ofthe ingredients excluding any added water, and excluding the weight ofany solid inclusions in the dough as described below) are alsoappropriate for the doughs used in the processes of the invention, sincethe dry weight of the ingredients in the dough is similar to the dryweight of the product. It follows that the dough of the presentinvention suitably comprises at least about 0.2 wt. % of ethylcellulosebased on the total weight of the dough, for example at least about 0.8wt. % of ethylcellulose. Suitably, the dough of the present inventioncomprises from about 1.6 wt. % to about 7 wt. % of ethylcellulose basedon the total weight of the dough, for example from about 2.5 wt. % toabout 5 wt. % of ethylcellulose based on the weight of the dough.Likewise, it follows that the dough of the invention suitably comprisesfrom about 2 wt. % to about 30 wt. % of ethylcellulose based on thetotal weight of the oil and/or fat component in the dough, for examplefrom about 5% to about 25% of ethylcellulose, typically from about 10%to about 20% of ethylcellulose, based on the total weight of the oiland/or fat component in the dough.

The term “oleogel” herein refers to a gel having a continuous oil phasehaving the ethylcellulose uniformly dispersed in the gel phase andfunctioning as the gelling agent. The oleogels are suitably clear andtranslucent or even transparent materials having the physical propertiesof a true gel as described above. A surfactant may also be presenthomogeneously distributed through the gel. The oleogels are formed bydissolving the ethylcellulose in the oil at temperatures above the glasstransition temperature of ethylcellulose, i.e. temperatures above about140° C. The oleogels may be cooled before addition to the dough mix.However, addition of the ethylcellulose in the form of an oleogel is notpreferred, because oleogels may not give satisfactory mixing andcreaming in the dough preparation step, and the properties of theresulting baked goods are not as satisfactory.

The terms “oil” and “fat” herein encompass lipids such as triglycerides,diglycerides, monoglycerides, phosphoglycerides etc. Oils are pourableliquids at a temperature of about 20° C., whereas fats are solid orsemi-solid at the same temperature. Suitably, the oil (fat) employed inaccordance with the present invention comprises or consists essentiallyof a triglyceride. The term “fatty acid” as used herein encompassesfatty acid residues contained, for instance, in triglycerides.

The present invention offers the advantage that it enables thepreparation of baked goods with liquid oils such as a low SAFA oil andacceptable oil migration properties, with little or no fat. Hence,according to certain embodiments, the total fat/oil component containslittle or no hydrogenated fat. The total amount of saturated fatty acidsin the fat/oil component in the products and process of the presentinvention typically does not exceed 35 wt. %. Even more suitably, theSAFA content of the fat/oil component does not exceed 30 wt. %, mostpreferably it does not exceed 25 wt. % of the total fatty acids content.

According to certain embodiments, the dough made in the process of thepresent invention contains not more than 10 wt. %, even more preferablynot more than 8 wt. % of saturated fat. Here the weight percentagesaturated fat is calculated by multiplying the total fat content (wt. %)with the weight ratio of saturated fatty acids to total fatty acids.

Expressed differently, saturated fat suitably represents less than 15%,for example less than 13% of the total caloric content of the productsof the invention.

In scientific literature, many health benefits have been attributed topolyunsaturated fatty acids. For this reason, it is preferred that thefat/oil used in the products and process of the present inventioncontains at least about 5 wt. % of polyunsaturated fatty acids, forexample from about 5% to about 15% of polyunsaturated fatty acids basedon the total fatty acid content of the product. The balance ofunsaturated fatty acids is made up of monounsaturated fatty acids(MUFA). The MUFA content is suitably at least about 35 wt. %, forexample at least about 50 wt. %, typically at least about 75 wt. % basedon the total fatty acid content of the product. Because partialhydrogenation of unsaturated oils is accompanied by the formation oftrans-unsaturated fatty acids and because these trans-unsaturated fattyacids are generally regarded as undesirable, suitably the fat/oil usedin the products and process of the present invention has a trans fattyacid content of less than about 2 wt. %, for example less than about 1wt. % based on the total fatty acid content of the product.

The fat/oil component used in the products and process of the presentinvention advantageously contains at least about 50 wt. % of one or moreoils that are liquid at 20° C., suitably at least about 90 wt. % of suchoils, for example at least about 99 wt. % of such oils.

The highly unsaturated oil that is suitably used in the products andprocess of the present invention suitably is a vegetable oil. Forexample, said oil may be selected from the group consisting of sunfloweroil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, safflower oil, corn oil,olive oil and combinations thereof. Whenever the term sunflower oil isused in here, this term is meant to encompass any type of sunflower oilincluding, for instance, high oleic sunflower oil. The same holds forother vegetable oils, such as for instance rapeseed oil, which includeshigh erucic rapeseed oil.

The doughs utilized for the present invention can be prepared in aconventional manner using a mixing/creaming stage and a dough-formingstage. Suitably, the dough is a plastic, non-pourable dough, or it maybe a pourable batter.

The dough typically contains 40-85 wt. % of flour. In embodiments thedough suitably contains 40-70 wt. %, for example 45-65 wt. % of flour.The flour employed in the dough is selected from conventional ingredientlines. The flour component may be any comminuted cereal grain or edibleseed meal such as wheat flour, corn flour, corn starch, modified starch,rice flour, potato flour, barley flour, or the like. Wheat flour ispreferred, and may be bleached or unbleached. Suitably, the wheat flouris soft wheat flour.

Suitably, the doughs used to make the products of the invention and inthe processes of the invention contain 15-50% of the oil/fat componentby weight of flour.

The dough may contain up to about 5 percent by weight, typically fromabout 1% to about 3% by weight of a leavening system, based upon theweight of the flour. A suitable leavening system comprises sodiumbicarbonate, for example in combination with calcium phosphate,monobasic, and ammonium bicarbonate.

Besides flour, water, fat and optional leavening agent, the doughsuitably contains one or more sugars, such as sucrose, glucose, fructoseand combinations thereof. For example, the dough may contain 10-40% byweight of sugars. Typically, the total sugar solids content (exclusiveof solid inclusions) of the dough is from about 20 to about 110 parts byweight of sugar per 100 parts of the flour component.

The combination of flour, water, fat, leavening agent and sugarstypically represents at least 80 wt. %, most preferably at least 90 wt.% of the dough excluding solid inclusions as described below.

The initial moisture content of the dough is adjusted to provide thedesired consistency to the dough to enable proper mixing, working andshaping. The total moisture content of the dough will include any waterincluded as a separately added ingredient, as well as the moistureprovided by flour (which usually contains about 12% to about 14% byweight moisture) and the moisture content of other dough additives whichmay be included in the formulation. Taking into account all sources ofmoisture in the dough, including separately added water, the totalinitial moisture content of the dough is generally from about 10% toabout 25% by weight of the dough formulation, exclusive of solidinclusions such as nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, and the like.Moisture contents of from about 12% by weight to about 16% by weight,based upon the weight of the dough are typically used.

In addition to the foregoing, the doughs used in the process of theinvention may include other additives conventionally employed in doughsfor baked goods. Suitable additives include, for example, chocolateliquor, salt, milk by-products, egg or egg by-products, vanilla,pregelatinized starch, such as pregelatinized corn, wheat, and waxymaize starch, peanut butter, cereal (oatmeal) as well as inclusions suchas nuts, raisins, and coconut, emulsifiers such as sorbitanmonostearate, mono-and/or di-glycerides polyoxyethylene sorbitan fattyacid esters, such as polysorbates (e.g., polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitanmonostearate), and sodium stearoyl-2-lactate, humectants such ashumectant sugars, glycerol, sugar alcohols such as mannitol, maltitol,xylitol and sorbitol, and other polyols, as humectants are well known inthe art. Additional examples of humectant polyols (i.e. polyhydricalcohols) include humectant glycols, for example propylene glycol andhydrogenated glucose syrups.

While baking times and temperatures will vary for different doughformulations, oven types, etc., in general baking times may range fromabout 5 minutes to about 25 minutes and baking temperatures may rangefrom about 140° C. to about 260° C., for example about 160° C. to about200° C.

To summarise, the dough suitably comprises, by weight excluding solidinclusions: from about 40 wt. % to about 85 wt. % of flour; up to about30 wt. % of total sugars; from about 10 wt. % to about 40 wt. % of totaloil and fat; from about 0.8% to about 6% of ethylcellulose; from about 1wt. % to about 5 wt. % of a leavening composition, and from about 5 wt.% to about 25 wt. % of added water.

The total fat content of the cooked dough products of the inventiontypically is in the range of 10-45 wt. %. Furthermore, the productsadvantageously contain not more than 10 wt. %, for example not more than8 wt. % of saturated fat. In terms of caloric content, saturated fatsuitably represents less than 15%, for example less than 13% of thetotal caloric content of the product.

The water activity of the cooked dough product according to the presentinvention should be less than about 0.7, for example less than or equalto about 0.65, to assure microbial shelf stability. The moisture contentof the cooked dough product is suitably less than about 10%, for exampleless than about 5%, typically about 1% to about 4% by weight.

To summarise, the cooked dough product suitably comprises, by weightexcluding solid inclusions: from about 40 wt. % to about 85 wt. %,preferably about 50 wt. % to about 75 wt. %, of components derived fromflour such as starch and proteins; up to about 30 wt. %, preferablyabout 10 wt % to about 30 wt. %, of total sugars; from about 10 wt. % toabout 45 wt. % of total oil and fat; from about 0.25 wt. % to about 10wt. %, preferably about 1 wt. % to about 6 wt. %, of ethylcellulose; andup to about 10 wt. % of water.

In embodiments, the cooked dough product is a biscuit (cookie)comprising, by weight excluding solid inclusions: from about 40 wt. % toabout 75 wt. % of components derived from flour such as starch andproteins; about 10 wt % to about 30 wt. % of total sugars; from about 10wt. % to about 45 wt. % of total oil and fat; from 1 wt. % to about 6wt. %, preferably from about 2 wt. % to about 6 wt. % of ethylcellulose;and up to about 10 wt. % of water. Suitably, the biscuit (cookie) havingthis composition is at least partially coated with chocolate.

It will be appreciated that any feature that is described herein inrelation to any one or more aspects of the invention may also be appliedto any other aspect of the invention. The products of the invention aresuitably obtainable by, or produced by, one of the methods of theinvention.

These and other features of the invention will become more apparent fromthe following description in which reference is made to the appendeddrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic of a method used to measure susceptibility tooil migration of biscuit (cookie) compositions; and

FIG. 2 shows a graph of measured oil loss versus ethylcellulose contentfor various biscuit (cookie) compositions. The ethylcellulose content isin weight percent based on the total weight of the dough used to makethe biscuits. The measured oil loss is in weight percent based on theweight of the biscuits.

EXAMPLE 1

In this example, biscuit (USA: cookie) products were made according tothe formulations given in Table 1. The percentages in the Table are byweight based on the total weight of the ingredients including water. Theamounts of ethylcellulose were selected so that Formulations 1-7contained, respectively, 0%, 3%, 7%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 26.3% ofethylcellulose by weight based on the weight of the fat (oil) in theformulations.

(1) General Purpose Fat (GPF) Reference Biscuits. The dough compositionof these biscuits was based on Formulation 1 in Table 1 below, whichcontains no ethylcellulose, but with replacement of the sunflower oil inFormulation 1 by a conventional hard biscuit fat consisting of palm oilfractions (not hydrogenated). The solid fat content of the GP fat is 45%nominal at 20° C. and 28% nominal at 25° C., as determined by ISO 8292thermal pretreatment 9.1.1. The biscuits were made as follows. Sugar anda conventional biscuit fat were mixed at speed 5 (BEAR Varimixer, Teddy)for 1 min. Then salt solution containing water, salt and sodiumbicarbonate was added over the next 2 minutes. The formulation was leftto mix until a foam structure was formed. Speed was changed to 0.3.Flour was poured into the bowl as soon as possible. Continual mixing wasallowed until dough formed columns at the side of the bowl and the baseof the bowl was visible, with no free fat. The dough was rolled out tothe desired thickness (3 mm) and cut into discs and placed on the bakingtray. The biscuits were baked in 180° C. oven for 13 minutes, and thencooled on the cool tray.

(2) Sunflower Oil Reference Biscuits. Sunflower oil biscuits containingsunflower oil instead of the GP fat and having the Formulation 1 inTable 1 below were made by the same method as described above for theGPF biscuits.

(3) Sunflower Oil with Ethylcellulose PREMIX Procedure: Six sunfloweroil biscuits with different combinations of ethylcellulose (EC) andother materials were produced according to the GPF procedure abovehaving the Formulations 2 to 7, respectively, in Table 1 below.Ethylcellulose was added with sugar and sunflower oil at the first step,the other steps were the same as the standard procedure for the GP fatbiscuits above.

(4) Sunflower Oil with Ethylcellulose MAINMIX Procedure: Four biscuitswere made according to the same procedure as the GPF biscuit above, withdifferent combinations of ethylcellulose (EC) and other materials havingthe Formulations 2, 4, 5 and 7, respectively, according to Table 1below. The biscuits were made by premixing the ethylcellulose with theflour. Ethylcellulose was added with the wheat soft flour, the othersteps were the same as the standard procedure for the GP biscuits above.

(5) Sunflower Oil with Ethylcellulose ORGANOGEL Procedure: sunflower oiland ethylcellulose were mixed and heated to 145° C. with stirring untilthe mixture was completely clear, then placed in the fridge (5° C.) toform an organogel. During biscuit making, sugar and organogel were mixedat speed 5 at room temperature at first, the other steps were the sameas in the standard procedure. Four biscuits with the Formulations 2, 3,4 and 5, respectively, from Table 1 were made in this way bypredispersing the ethylcellulose as an organogel in the oil phase.

TABLE 1 Formulation # 1 2 3 4 % g % g % g % g Caster Sugar 17.00 170.0016.90 170.00 16.78 170.00 16.68 170.0 Sunflower Oil 19.00 190.00 18.89190.00 18.75 190.00 18.65 190.0 Soft wheat flour 56.00 560.00 55.68560.00 55.26 560.00 54.96 560.0 Water 7.60 76.00 7.56 76.00 7.50 76.007.46 76.00 Salt 0.26 2.60 0.26 2.60 0.26 2.60 0.26 2.60 SodiumBicarbonate 0.14 1.40 0.14 1.40 0.14 1.40 0.14 1.40 Ethylcellulose 0 00.57 5.70 1.31 13.30 1.86 19.00 Total 1000 1005.70 1013.30 1019.0Formulation # 5 6 7 % g % g % g Caster sugar 16.53 170.00 16.38 170.0016.23 170.00 Sunflower oil 18.47 190.00 18.30 190.00 18.14 190.00 SoftWheat Flour 54.45 560.00 53.95 560.00 53.46 560.00 Water 7.39 76.00 7.3276.00 7.26 76.00 Salt 0.25 2.60 0.25 2.60 0.25 2.60 Sodium Bicarbonate0.14 1.40 0.13 1.40 0.13 1.40 Ethylcellulose 2.77 28.50 3.66 38.00 4.7650.00 Total 1028.50 1038.00 1050.00 Ethylcellulose powder: Ethocel std20 premium, Dow Wolff Cellulosics Sunflower Oil: FLORA Pure SunflowerOil, Princes Ltd. Sodium Bicarbonate: Bicarbonate of Soda, Super CookLtd. Sugar: Caster Sugar for baking, Tate & Lyle

Procedure 1

To accurately define oil binding capacity, samples of each biscuitprepared in the Examples were pulverized and oil migration from thepowdered biscuit was measured with the following centrifuge method.Every sample was divided in four sub-samples to get a coefficient ofdeviation smaller than 10%.

As shown in FIG. 1, the biscuit powder 2 was added into a centrifugetube 1 (size=50 ml, Sterilin) with a filter paper roll 4 at its bottomand a metal sieve 3 between filter paper 4 and biscuit powder 2. Thesample was centrifuged (HEVAEUS Multifuge® 3SR+ Centrifuge, ThermoScientific) for 30 min (8999 rpm at 30° C.). During centrifugation, oiltransferred from biscuit powder to filter paper. After centrifugation,the oil-depleted biscuit powder 5 and the filter paper containing thetransferred oil 6 remain separated by the sieve 3. The percentage oilreleased was calculated by weighing the filter paper before and aftercentrifugation.

$p = {\frac{g_{2} - g_{1}}{g_{B}} \times 100\%}$

P: Oil Release as a Percent of Biscuits (%)

g₂: Filter paper weight after centrifuge

g₁: Filter paper weight before centrifuge

g_(B): Weight of Biscuit powder

FIG. 2 depicts the oil-binding capacity of the GP fat reference biscuit,the PREMIX sunflower oil biscuits, MAINMIX sunflower oil biscuits,ORGANOGEL sunflower oil biscuits by oil released as a percent ofbiscuits after centrifugation.

As shown in FIG. 2, the amount of ethylcellulose present in the biscuitsplayed a significant role in oil binding. Increasing the amount ofethylcellulose present in the sunflower oil biscuits increased theamount of oil binding and decreased the amount that leaked. MAINMIX 1and MAINMIX 2 are two repeats of the same set of experiments for thedifferent levels of EC; the oil release results are not significantlydifferent in the two sets, demonstrating a good repeatability of theexperiment.

PREMIX VS MAINMIX: Neither procedure changed quality or taste ofbiscuits dramatically. There was no significant difference betweenPREMIX and MAINMIX procedures, so MAINMIX procedure can be used as themethod to make biscuits in the factory process, as it is an easier wayto add ethylcellulose.

PREMIX/MAINMIX VS ORGANOGEL: The oil release of biscuits made with theORGANOGEL procedure was higher than PREMIX/MAINMIX at low ECconcentration (0.6%), but much lower at higher EC concentration (1.9%,2.8%). However, at the higher ethylcellulose concentrations (1.9%,2.8%), the baking quality and taste of biscuits made by the ORGANOGELprocedure were not as good. The porous structure in the biscuits was nothomogeneous, the biscuit surface was irregular and bumped, as if thewater could not come out in a homogeneous way during baking. Thisindicates that forming the gel before baking interferes with the bakingprocess.

As a conclusion, ethylcellulose worked well on trapping oil and reducingoil release from biscuits. Increasing the amount of ethylcellulosepresent in the sunflower oil biscuits increased the amount of oilbinding and decreased the amount leaked.

The MAINMIX procedure can be used to make biscuits with ethylcellulose.There was a linear trend between ethylcellulose concentration in totalweight and oil release as a percentage in biscuits, which could befitted to the equation: y=−1.9444x+13.66. The equation maybe used tocalculate the concentration of ethylcellulose when the specific oilrelease percent is required. Thus, when the oil release of sunflower oilis equal to GP fat biscuits, the concentration of ethylcellulose wouldbe 4.85% based on total weight of the dough. Higher amounts ofethylcellulose may be needed to match the oil migration properties ofsome crystallising fats.

It will be appreciated that any of the above biscuit examples can becoated with chocolate, for example in a conventional enrober. Theresulting chocolate-coated products are expected to exhibit reduced oilmigration through the chocolate coating.

The above examples have been described by way of example only. Manyother embodiments falling within the scope of the accompanying claimscan readily be achieved by the skilled reader.

1. A cooked dough product comprising from about 10 wt. % to about 45 wt.% of at least one of an oil component and a fat component, and fromabout 0.25 wt. % to about 20 wt. % of ethylcellulose, based on theweight of said product.
 2. A cooked dough product according to claim 1,wherein said product comprises from about 1 wt. % to about 8 wt. % ofethylcellulose based on the weight of said cooked dough product.
 3. Acooked dough product according to claim 2, wherein said productcomprises from about 2 wt. % to about 6 wt. % of ethylcellulose based onthe weight of said cooked dough product.
 4. A cooked dough productaccording to claim 1, wherein said product comprises from about 10 wt. %to about 30 wt. % of ethylcellulose based on the total weight of said atleast one of an oil component and a fat component in said product.
 5. Acooked dough product according to claim 1, wherein said productcomprises from about 15 wt. % to about 30 wt. % of said at least one ofan oil component and a fat component.
 6. A cooked dough productaccording to claim 1, wherein said at least one of an oil component anda fat component includes one or more oils that are liquid at 20° C.
 7. Acooked dough product according to claim 1, wherein saturated fatty acidcontent of said at least one of an oil component and a fat componentdoes not exceed 30 wt % of the total fatty acids content of saidcomponent.
 8. A cooked dough product according to claim 1, wherein saidat least one of an oil component and a fat component contains at leastabout 5 wt. % of polyunsaturated fatty acids and less than about 2 wt. %of trans-fatty acids, based on the total fatty acid content of theproduct.
 9. A cooked dough product according to claim 1, wherein saidproduct comprises less than about 1.0 wt. % of saturated fat.
 10. Acooked dough product according to claim 1, wherein said product is oneof a biscuit and a cookie.
 11. A cooked dough product according to claim1, wherein said product comprises from 10% to 50% by weight of one ormore sugars.
 12. A cooked dough product according to claim 1, whereinsaid product is at least partially coated with chocolate.
 13. A methodof making a cooked dough product comprising the steps of: preparing adough containing a flour, water, from about 10 wt. % to about 45 wt. %of a component including at least one of an oil and a fat, and fromabout 0.25 wt. % to about 20 wt. % of ethylcellulose, based on theweight of the ingredients excluding added water; and cooking the doughat a temperature of at least about 140° C.
 14. A method according toclaim 13, wherein said step of preparing a dough comprises adding saidethylcellulose in the form of solid, particulate ethylcellulose to atleast one of the dough and one or more dry ingredients of the doughbefore mixing the dough.
 15. A method according to claim 13, whereinsaid step of preparing a dough comprises adding said ethylcellulose inthe form of solid, particulate ethylcellulose to the water before mixingthe dough.
 16. A method according to claim 13, wherein said doughcomprises, by weight excluding solid inclusions and added water: fromabout 40 wt. % to about 85 wt. % of flour from about 10 wt. % to about30 wt. % of total sugars from about 10 wt. % to about 40 wt. % of totaloil and fat from about 0.25% to about 20% of ethylcellulose from about 1wt. % to about 5 wt. % of a leavening composition, and from about 5 wt.% to about 25 wt. % of added water.
 17. (canceled)
 18. A method forreducing oil migration in a cooked dough product, said method including:preparing a dough including flour, water, and from about 10 wt. % toabout 45 wt. % of a component including at least one of an oil and afat; and adding from about 0.25 wt. % to about 20 wt. %, based on theweight of the ingredients excluding added water, of ethylcellulose tosaid dough.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein said cooked dough productcomprises from about 1 wt. % to about 8 wt. % of ethylcellulose based onthe weight of the ingredients excluding added water.